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Duncan Hunter, Nuclear War Enthusiast

Congratulations, San Diego! We now officially have our very own neo-con nuclear warmonger as one of our five representatives to Congress! As if having Darrell Issa entertain us by wasting tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money on wild conspiracy chases in search of narratives that only exist in the insulated cocoon of right wing Fantasyland wasn’t humiliating enough, now we have our very own member of Congress that wants to start a nuclear war! Well isn’t that special!

Yesterday, in an interview on C-SPAN, speaking on the deal struck recently between the West and Iran, Hunter expressed some opinions that raised some eyebrows, to say the least. As a part of the pact, Iran agrees to stop building new centrifuges for the refinement of nuclear material, caps the amount and type of nuclear material that Iran is allowed to produce, and it halts Iran’s work on the construction of a heavy-water reactor that would eventually allow the country to produce plutonium, which could lead to high yield nuclear weapons. Iran also agrees to increased oversight of their nuclear related activities.

In return, the West will begin to ease some of the crippling sanctions that have decimated the Iranian economy. The deal will be finalized over the next six months.

But good ‘ol Dunc Hunter is having none of it. Diplomacy, he apparently believes, is a waste of time.

Asked if he believes that war with Iran is inevitable: “I sure as hell hope not.” He then went full “nuclear”:

I think a ground war in Iran with American boots on the ground would be a horrible thing. And I think people like to toss around the fact that we have to stop them in some way from getting this nuclear capability. I don’t think it’s inevitable, but I think if you have to hit Iran, you don’t put boots on the ground. You do it with tactical nuclear devices, and you set them back a decade, or two or three. I think that’s the way to do it, with a massive aerial bombardment campaign. (emphasis added)

But that’s still a huge undertaking. It would cost billions and billions of dollars to do it. But no, I don’t think especially after Iraq and Afghanistan, I think America now knows its limitations in that area, and what we can do. Do we want to spend 20 years there after we tear it down to build it back up again so that it isn’t run by a crazy tyrannical leader like has happened in, let’s say, Iraq and Afghanistan again, where you have some crazy guys running the governments there? And unfortunately what we’ve done to set that up has played a role in those countries not being great actors still.

So, while most of the rest of the world is trying to get rid of nuclear weapons, Duncan Hunter seems to think that not only should we have them, but we should actually use them. Otherwise, what’s the point of having them? Let’s wipe the entire country of Iran off the map with tactical nuclear weapons. That’s the way to go. Let’s start a nuclear war (I’m sure the Russians would be pleased as punch to hear this)!

Nice to know that San Diego is electing responsible, level headed leaders to represent our interests to the federal government. I don’t know a whole lot about James Kimber (yet), but it’s hard to imagine at this point that he wouldn’t be a better choice than Hunter. And oh-by-the-way: Kimber’s a veteran, too, just in case that was one of your major selling points on Hunter.

Andy Cohen

Andy spent 15 years working in the highest levels of the San Diego professional sports world, including both the Padres and the Chargers. He began his foray into writing while a volunteer for Francine Busby's 2010 Congressional campaign, eventually becoming a contributor to the now defunct SDNN. He has reported on local and national politics for both the OB Rag and the San Diego Free Press. When not reporting news and events, he offers political and policy commentary from a liberal perspective, occasionally turning back to his sports roots.

Comments

Hunkin Dunter Jr is taking after his father Hunkin Dunter Sr. Same guy, same name, different generation. Most El Cajon voters don’t even know the old man is gone replaced by his equally right wing son of the same name. Maybe Jr will have a son, Hunkin Dunter III, and the voters will go right on voting for him because after all he’s Hunkin Dunter, same guy, same name, different generation. Most voters don’t know the difference. They like sameness, and Hunkin Dunter gives them sameness.

As a veteran for peace and an advocate for veterans, i am appalled at your ridiculous nuclear option.
Are you nuts? How would you feel, if a representative, from another country suggested this? I am sure you would scream “terrorist”.
Get a clue, you work for some one else, not the American people and you should be ashamed of yourself, turn in your resignation, end of story.
Daniel Venzon

Anyone else notice that the guy in the phone book illustrating the story on corporate spying on non-profits looks like Hunkin Dunter II’s mugshot illustrating his public embrace of nuclear attacks. Given how impoverished Congressmen are, maybe Dunter II has had to moonlight, both as a corporate spy or a right-wing model.

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